Rayman 3: Hoodlum Havoc is the third major platforming installment in the Rayman series. It tells the story of how Rayman stops Andre, an evil black lum, from taking over the world with his army of sack-like 'Hoodlum' soldiers. The game has sarcastic self-referential undertones and pokes fun at the platforming video game genre. It was released in early 2003 for various gaming platforms, such as the PlayStation 2, Nintendo Gamecube and the Xbox. In 2004 it was released for the Mac OS X. It has a sequel by the name of Rayman: Hoodlum's Revenge, which was released in 2005 for the Game Boy Advance. On the console versions, Groove Armada - Madder is the official theme song of the game. It was released later for the latest consoles as Rayman 3 HD, available on PSN (PlayStation Network) and Xbox Live Arcade.

Contents

Plot

Andre, the leader of the Black Lums, is a lum who was supposively said to have grown out of pure evil. One night, as he is passing through the Crossroad of Dreams, he transforms other Red Lums into Black Lums to join him. The group eventually gains enough hair from various animals throughout the forest to dress up to disguise themselves as Hoodlums. In the middle of the process, Murfy, one of the residents and workers of the Fairy Council, discovers them. Andre later on discovers him hiding nearby and begins to make chase of him. Murfy is eventually chased to a small clearing, where Rayman and his friend Globox are sound asleep. Just as Murfy reaches them, Globox is awakened by the commotion. Now aware of the situation, Globox helps Murfy try to get Rayman, who is still unawakened by the events, to safety. In the process, Globox accidentally removes Rayman's hands, forcing Murfy to pick Rayman up by his hair and drag him away from the clearing

Rayman 3 European boxart

himself. In an attempt to save himself, Glox runs away to safety taking Rayman's hands along with him.
As time passes, more and more Hoodlums are invading the forest. After reaching the entrance to the Fairy Council, Rayman and Murfy discover Globox hiding in a barrel. Just as Rayman gets his hands back from his rather cowardly friend, Andre and a few of his Hoodlum minions join them, giving chase to a much frightened Globox. As Rayman and Murfy pursue after then, they learn of Andre's evil plan: to taint the Heart of the World so that he can create that same energy into an army of Hoodlums. Undeterred, the twosome continue the chase after the evil flyin bully. Eventually, Andre catches up with Globox, who ends up accidentally swallowing the evil creature. Now it is up to Rayman to find a doctor to rid Andre from Globox's stomach. Along the way, Rayman meets up with three doctors: Otto, Romeo, and Art Rytus (or Gonzo). As all three doctors fail independently to purge Andre, they succeed in getting rid of him after some teamwork. Now angry and still undeterred by his plans for world domination, Andre teams up with Reflux, a being whom Rayman had to duel with to prove his worth to the Knaaren race. Hungry for power and desperate to get rid of Rayman, the two decide to team up and make even more havoc for Rayman. Reflux and turning Andre back into a Red Lum. Shortly thereafter, Rayman and Globox return back to the clearing that they were in at the very beginning. Globoxsharing his sorrow with Rayman about Andre's return to. Rayman tries to console him by saying that he thinks that there is really no way to bring Andre back. Globox then shares that, unlike making a Black Lum turn baco a red one by making it laugh, you can turn a red lum into a Black one by getting it scared. At a loss for what would truly scare a lum, Rayman and Globox fall asleep. In a flashback scene to follow, it is revealed that Rayman's hands are the "true enemy" of the game, as they detach from Rayman while he's asleep and run off to go scare a nearby Red Lum. The scared lum happens to turn into Andre, which brings the scene back to the proposed beginning of the game.

Special Creatures

Throughout the game, Rayman can also find two types of creatures, blue lizard-like creatures called Matuvus an red flower-shaped creatures called Tribelles. Points are given when Rayman looks at the Matuvus with the first person view, and when he slowly approaches a Tribelle.

Voice Cast

Reception

In general, the game has been received positively [1]. Overall, the game has been praised for its graphics and sound quality, but is more hit-or-miss on the gameplay and sound style. IGN lauds the game for the voice-acting, calling it "exactly what the Rayman franchise has been begging for,"[2] whereas GameSpot notes that the dialogue for the game is "trying too hard to be self-aware and hip."[3] Reviews also note that the gameplay sets into what can become an obvious pattern.
The game has also been criticised for the character's and game world's sudden and highly unexpected personality change, which made the game less appealing to fans of the previous Rayman games.

The game starts with Globox accidentally swallowing a Black Lum when trying to save the Teensies. As soon as Rayman finds out about this, he scolds his friend and decides that they should find a way to remove the Black Lum, however, Globox simply runs away, forcing Rayman to go after him. Meanwhile, on board the pirate prison ship "The Buccaneer", Admiral Razorbeard, the leader of the Robo-Pirates, decides to steal the lum and use his power to his advantage.

During his search for Globox, Rayman encounters many other friends from his previous adventure, including Murfy, who gives him advice during the game, and Ly the Fairy, who gives him new powers.

The game ends with Rayman confronting Razorbeard and his weapon, the Grolgoth, in a battle similar to that found at the end of Rayman 2: The Great Escape. Rayman manages to defeat him, and Globox, now cured, brags to his children that he was the one who saved the day with just a little help from Rayman.

Sequel

A direct sequel entitled Rayman: Hoodlum's Revenge was released shortly thereafter exclusively on the Gameboy Advance. Andre returns and his army of Hoodlums attempt to clone Reflux.